The 24 Best Beach Hotels in Europe

U Capu Biancu is almost completely hidden from land or sea. Carved into a cliff on Corsica’s south coast and surrounded by the island’s rosemary- and lavender-scented maquis, this small, secret hotel occupies a long and winding lane that leads directly to the great iron gates. Once inside, the space is inviting, lanterns swaying in the sea breeze. And then suddenly there it is – the sea beneath you. It’s a view that makes you stop walking and talking and just breathe in everything.

The indoor-outdoor restaurant is the centerpiece of this small hotel, set on a series of hillside terraces. Here, the well-dressed, mostly French clientele dine on excellent seafood, which is hauled in by the hotel’s only neighbor, a fisherman who moors at the jetty, and takes his catch to the wonderful, longtime chef Gadio El Hadji, who grills it a la plancha or grills it bake them in salt. Breakfast includes freshly baked bread, homemade jams and eggs from the garden’s hens. Follow the garden path, past the delightfully warm pool, down through oleander bushes and olive trees to the beach at the very bottom, which is only accessible from the hotel and the sea.

Distance to the water: 5 minutes on foot

Travel Time: Half an hour drive from Figari-Sud Corse Airport

Insider Tip: There are also donkeys whose milk is used to fill a bath for a Cleopatra spa treatment at the small, intimate spa that could easily be an old shepherd’s hut, all dry stone and bare wood.